"first Bruneian credit card based on Islamic syariah principles..."

In April 2003 ASAFF was awarded the contract to supply, install, implement and commission a Card Management System and Customer Loyalty System for Islamic Development Bank of Brunei Berhad (IDBB). IDBB's card is the first Bruneian credit card based on Islamic syariah principles. With the help of ASAFF and its partners Giesecke & Devrient and EPNCR/Comexgenesys, IDBB's credit card was officially launched on 12 Feburary 2004 at a ceremony attended by His Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Muda Mahkota General Pengiran Muda Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah.

ASAFF has delivered a Mastercard credit card solution with embedded "Chip". The cards have an embedded loyalty program similar to commonly operated loyalty systems, such as Air Miles. However, the IDBB Loyalty Solutions is designed to work easily for any vendor using an IDBB Point of Sale (POS) credit card terminal.

The project had two phases, the first phase was IDBB's entrance into Brunei Darrusalam's credit card market. During this phase the card embossing, issuing, transaction processing and authorisation and management was implemented. The second phase of the project included the rollout of POS terminals and the loyalty scheme to IDBB and key vendor partners who offer IDBB points to their customers when they make purchases.

Brunei Darrusalam already has several banks who operate Credit Cards, for IDBB to be successful it had to differentiate itself from the competitors. IDBB has used three key ideas to do this:
   Honoring Syariah principles.
   Security via the embedded chip.
   Loyalty scheme

Honoring Syariah Principles: Each vendor who accepts Credit Cards is by their bank required to disclose the kind of business they operate. The IDBB Credit Card will prevent its holder from paying for items or services from companies who operate contrary to Islamic Law, such as casinos or bars.

Security via the embedded chip: The latest generations of Credit Cards which have embedded chips can prevent fraud against the banks and its customers in at least two important ways. Firstly, it is impossible to 'clone' or 'skim' a chip. Secondly, 'offline' authorisation is much safer since transactions offline are stored on the card and can prove if the card was used to make the purchase.

Loyalty Scheme: IDBB's Loyalty Scheme encourages its customers to make purchases using their credit card by awarding them points according to how much money they spend. It also allows IDBB and other vendors to setup special offers, such as extra reward points on certain items. Customers can also redeem their points through such vendors.

ASAFF has delivered a unique and ambitious credit card solution to IDBB. While most banks do not attempt a chip based credit card until they have experienced with the significantly more simple magnetic stripe based cards, ASAFF has provided IDBB with an ideological and technical edge in the Bruneian market place with their credit card.